Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, OH MY!
Facebook has been used a social networking site since the dawn of it's time. However over the years, it has become more that just a website that makes the world seem a little bit smaller. Facebook's latest mission statement is that people use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, discover what's going on in the world, and share and express what matters to them.
In the educational world Facebook is used in many different ways. It allows the school to keep parents and students up to date with upcoming events, reminders, sign up information, photos of school activities, promote fundraisers, etc.
Libraries have used Facebook as a platform to promote reading, book fairs, online reading videos, photographs of library events, reminders for students, and much more! As an educator, I did not realize how Facebook could be a prevalent source to connecting to students in a meaningful way. However, I was taken a back when I searched for school library pages! I saw many posts that were encouraging students to sign up at local public libraries for summer reading opportunities, links to videos of authors reading books, ticket admissions for local museums, links to weather and NASA, book connections to cooking, outdoor activities, and posts that described book requests from students. All of this and more, but as I continued to view the posts, I did notice that there were very few "likes" and comments below each post. Although Facebook is a useful digital tool to stay connected, in this day and age, it does seem to lack the followers needed to make a deep impact. Below are some advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook for library purposes.
Here is one GREAT example of a public school library Facebook page!
Advantages:
- Facebook is user friendly and allows users to reach out to a wide audience in an instant. For a librarian, who interacts with the whole school body, Facebook can reach the entire school with one post in a matter of seconds.
- The layout is very presentable and stores posts chronologically as it displays the newest post on the top of the page. For a librarian this, allows easy organization, and for students to scroll back to an older post for reference.
- Facebook is a great media source to post pictures of library displays, ongoing book fairs, and pictures of students utilizing the library to encourage readers to enter the library. Posting picture of new books that were recently added to the collection is a great way to get students attention.
- Librarians can use the "live" stream video application on Facebook to read books live to students during distance learning, over the summer, or to simply promote students to engage and respond using the comment box as needed.
- Beyond posting your own videos, librarians can post direct links to specific authors reading their own pieces of work, or even post promotion videos of highly anticipated books and novels that are launching.
Disadvantages:
- Facebook is now loosing appeal to younger audiences who use other social media platforms to stay connected.
- Most of the followers on the library pages that I visited are adults or school faculty members.
- Promoting students to follow your library Facebook page is difficult, most elementary students need parent permission to use such sites, and older of age students who use Facebook, are more interested in adding familiar friends to follow them, not educational sites such as the school library. Its a tough crowd!
Twitter is a popular social media site that allows users to "tweet" commentary, repost a "tweet" from a follower, share links, promote hashtags, and of course post relevant content that you are trying to portray to your followers. Most users either love twitter or hate it. In my personal experience with twitter, I find it repetitive and and less of a conversation tool, but others find it an outstanding platform to stay connected to the most up to date content.
Pros:
- Twitter allows its users to post short and to the point posts with only allowing 140 characters. For a librarian, this is less time consuming in order to send out quick updates to library users.
- You can get the latest news based on importance and preference quickly. This allows librarians to find potential content that they would like to "retweet" and regenerate on their own feed for their followers to view in a timely manner.
- Having the capability of meeting like-minded individuals globally is easy to do with the search options. Librarians will easily find and connect with well recognized authors, and professionals in their field that can provide them inspirational ideas, photos, and video content that they may be looking for.
- Twitter is great social media site for professing your own ideas and allows for freedom of speech and self-expression. This allows librarians the opportunity to share and express individual ideas, book ban lists, and other content of their liking.
Cons:
- Twitter only allows 140 characters, this may make it difficult to post lengthy messages and updates. Although I listed this as a "pro," it can also be seen as a major disadvantage for users who have a lot to express in one tweet.
- While users can tweet links to YouTube videos, they're unable to actually "Tweet" videos from Web services or upload videos from any desktop software.
- Twitter enables users to send direct messages to only one other user at a time. This makes its messaging system inefficient when compared with other social networking and communication means.
Who to Follow on Twitter!
As an educator following others on twitter is very inspirational. I enjoy scrolling through their posts and finding new and innovative ways to reach students, share library resources, and promote causes that are important in the library community. Below are a few of the top influencers that I follow, and some examples of the content that they share, or shall I say, "Tweet."
Some commonalities that these educators have are how they promote the library resources such as technology in a new light.
@GwynethJones
Gwyneth Jones is a teacher Librarian and Educational Technology Leader at Murray Hill Middle School in Howard County, Maryland. She's also a blogger, a Tweeter, an International Keynote EdTech, and Librarian speaker. She also has a blog post called "The Darling Librarian." Gwyneth is one of my favorite Technology Education gurus that I like to follow and read about. She posts an array of tweets on her tweeter feed such as online learning academies, links to virtual read alouds, links to new book reviews, links to free technology apps for any type of educator, tweets about the work that her students have created, hilarious re-tweets of other librarians, and numerous shout outs to her students that have accomplished amazing work! Her positivity and voice is a refreshing bright light to bring a smile to your face! Below are some examples of her tweets! Enjoy!
Instagram is one of the most used social media platforms to this day. Many users find it easy to use and visually appealing. Instagram is a great platform to connect your audience visually, since Instagram is used to post images, pictures, and short videos.
Pros:
- Instagram is all about the image! Librarians can spice up their pictures with many filters, and promote library resources in a visually appealing manner for students to view in their Instagram feeds.
- It is a great way for photos of students at library events to be displayed for school faculty and parents to view. Instagram can also be used to post photos of top Accelerated Readers, Top Classes, and individual student accomplishments.
- Apart from photo-sharing and filters, there is also the feature to share videos and live streams. Librarians can also share "stories," that can disappear after a day.
Cons:
- Instagram has become a place where you are bombarded with too many advertisements or sponsored posts. This may discourage some users and lead users of Instagram to get frustrated with the constant ads within their feed.
- With all social media sites, there is a possibility of cyberbullying. For educators, this may be a drawback to using platforms such as Instagram, but if your school instills strict cyberbullying rules, it may be easier to manage.
FIVE Examples of Instagram uses in school Libraries and classrooms!
1. Use of Hashtags:#bookface #throwbackthursday
2. Promote library or classroom Challenges:
3.Post pictures of library book display or classroom displays:
4. Post images of flyers to promote events at school or in the library!
5. Post a video to your "Stories" for students to view
promoting assignments, books, technology, homework, reminders, etc.
Here is a link to an example of a story video made by a librarian.
Check it out!
promoting assignments, books, technology, homework, reminders, etc.
Here is a link to an example of a story video made by a librarian.
Check it out!
